


Glowing Eyes

by idlehands0626



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Anxiety, College AU, Depression, add more as we go - Freeform, tags have spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-08
Updated: 2016-12-08
Packaged: 2018-09-07 08:04:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8790007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idlehands0626/pseuds/idlehands0626
Summary: Tyler and Josh are ready to face the world and take on college. They get an apartment together, and every damn problem that could possibly hit a brand-new college student absolutely does.





	

Chapter 1

 

Tyler looked in the mirror, and set himself. This was it; he couldn't back out of it anymore. He steeled his eyes against his own, searching for something, anything, that might convince him to do something else. He searched his face- observing the deep crevices beneath his eyes, the tired bags that hung a little further than he liked. He watched his eyes flit around, trying to memorize his own features. After all, there's only one mirror in college bathrooms, and if he's gonna be honest with himself, he's not going to be seeing a lot of it. Too many drunk kids pissing themselves and everywhere else. He chuckled to himself, and backed away. 

"Tyler? Are you ready to go?" Kelly Joseph called from the base of the stairs, a little anxiety tugging on her vocal cords. Tyler sighed, and pulled at a few strands of hair, setting it around his face. Eugh, pictures. 

"Coming, Mom, gimme a second." He flicked off the light, and jogged down the stairs. He grabbed his suitcase at the bottom, casting a glance at his mother. His eyes caught on her eyes- they were welling with tears. "Aw, come on. I'm not leaving forever. I'll be back for holidays or something, okay?" He dropped the suitcase and wrapped his mom in a hug. Glancing up from his mother's shoulder, he noticed his brothers and sister standing behind his dad, who was trying to suck up his own emotions. He sagged. "Come here, Dad- guys." He struggled to stay upright as his entire family enveloped him. At least, he thought, I know I'm loved here. He sucked in a breath, and tried to separate. "Pictures, right? You're suffocating me," he stated with a short gasp. Chuckling, his family parted and took their respective photos, laughing and sniffling. Time seemed to speed by- he needed to go. 

"Tyler, I'm gonna miss you bro." Zack stated, and ruffled his hair. Jay socked him in the arm, smiling. "Stay out of trouble, okay? And keep practicing. Remember," he laughed. "Ball is life." Tyler grinned and agreed, punching him back. He read Madison's face, and smiled sadly. 

"C'mere." She shuffled over and hugged him again tightly, and breathed a shuddering sigh into his hair. 

"Don't do anything stupid, like party or whatever." Maddie huffed out. Tyler just giggled and pushed her off. 

"Okay, alright, Josh is probably waiting for me. It's just college. I'll be back. I love you guys." Tyler approached the door, looking back on his family. First kid of four to be going to college- he's gonna be a little hard to let go. He gave a lopsided grin, and shut the door behind him. As promised, Josh was at the end of the driveway, leaning against his car. He waved him over, smiling widely. Tyler jogged over, lugging his suitcase behind him.

"Josh? Your eyes are red. Have a hard time leaving the family?" Josh nodded, and clapped him on the back. 

"You know how attached my mom is," He opened the door for Tyler, "She hugged me and wouldn't let go for a good ten minutes. She only let go when she realized how little time we had left to get out of here." Tyler laughed.

"Yeah, your mom had a hard time letting me go- I can't imagine how hard it must've been to get away from her yourself." He smiled to himself. 

"Abigail, Ashley and Jordan- did they even get a chance to see you off?" Josh giggled, running to the driver's side of the car and securing himself inside. 

"They got like two minutes," He smiled. "Ashley gave me a photo album with everyone in it. They wrote cute notes in the margins. It's honestly the nicest thing she's given me." He joked, gesturing at the glove box. "It's in there if you wanna take a peek. We've got a looong way to drive." Tyler hummed in thought, and decided to pick it up and flip through it. Each page looked like it took at least an hour to complete- intricate and thoughtful. There was a note tucked behind a picture, but he decided to leave it there. Josh's business- he'd probably find it sooner or later. He leafed through a few more pages as Josh turned the ignition, beginning their journey. Tyler put the book back in the glove box and watched as buildings rushed past, slowly thinning out into flat fields. He observed the road speeding by, seemingly without him. The lines blurred into each other, creating yellow streaks in his vision. His eyes fell slowly shut, sleep beckoning.

\-------------

"T----lr? Tyl-r! Hey, Tyler!" Tyler woke with a jump, eyes blown and limbs flailing. "Ty-guy, are you alright?" Josh withdrew his hand, and Tyler sputtered, trying to right himself. 

"Yeah, yeah, sorry. Just fell asleep." He rubbed at his eyes, and fell back into a lethargic state. "Sorry. We there?" Josh nodded. 

"You passed out as soon as we left city limits," he looked at him pointedly, "which was 7 hours ago. It's boring without you awake." Josh mockingly whined, humor decorating his voice. "I listened to that CD four times, and whatever was in the car over and over and over." Tyler smiled. 

"Oh, I'm sure you loved the alone time. How many car crashes did you avoid while air drumming?" Josh laughed. 

"Hmm, about six. You would've loved it. Stay awake next time." Josh pulled himself out of the car, stretching his limbs. Tyler moved to unbuckle himself, and noticed a few energy drinks and chip bags on the floor of the vehicle.

"You got Red Bull? And drank all of it without me?" Tyler mocked offence, and stepped out of the car himself. He chuckled, and held his chest in feigned shock. "I am insulted." Josh shook his head and leaned on the side of the car. 

"So, are you gonna be insulted, or help me get the last of these boxes into our apartment?" Tyler mumbled against his shirt as he freed himself, and popped open the trunk and started lifting. 

It was strange; he always dreamed of living with his best friend and now he had the opportunity to make it a reality. There was a wonderful air of finality as he dropped the last box in the middle of the living room- it was really happening. Josh helped him through a lot of the bad nights and horrid thoughts that plagued him, and god was he grateful. He breathed a happy sigh as he sat in the middle of his room, and began unpacking his own boxes. It felt like he could breathe again. There was nothing wrong with his family- they just didn't know how to help him. They didn't understand half of what Tyler was experiencing, so he couldn't really blame them. They told him that they were there for him, and that mattered to him, although it would be wonderful to have someone around who knew what they were doing. Insert Josh Dun. The flaming (although synthetic) redhead had been through most of what Tyler had, and knew what to do in each situation. Panic attack? Got it. Night terrors? Got it. Down day? Got it. As much as Tyler was shy to admit it, he relied on Josh. Not completely- he was sure he could live on his own if need be, but there's a gravity about him. It was easy to get drawn in- and stuck- especially since Josh felt the same about Tyler. A binary star system; one revolved around the other and helped the other along their track. A friendship valued above all else.  
Tyler stood and began sorting things into their proper positions. The apartment was quiet and peaceful- no tense silences. "Hey, Josh?" 

"Yeah?"

"...This is pretty sick." A laugh echoed around the apartment. 

"Sick as frick. Wanna play some Mario Kart?" 

"Are you actually asking me that?" Tyler abandoned his boxes and mess, realizing that he hardly even started. He shrugged and pushed himself up from the floor. "Quick question-" he paused, "do you remember which box you packed all that stuff into?" He heard a soft curse from down the hall. "I'm gonna take that as a no. I'm gonna see if you left me any Red Bull in the car." Tyler smirked as he grabbed the keys from the counter, rustling them and looking for the correct ones. Less than twenty minutes later, Tyler heard a shout of victory.

"Found it!" Josh appeared in the doorway, holding a Wii remote. "Catch, dude." Tyler nearly dropped his can as he fumbled with the object thrust at him. 

"Alright, you ready?" Josh nodded. He quickly finished setting up the game system, casting a sideways glance at Tyler. 

"You ready to get absolutely frickin' demolished?" Tyler scoffed. 

"The same question to you, dude. I'm the king, remember?" He shoved Josh lightly as he selected his character. They played through the rest of the evening, shoving and laughing, and trying to trick the other into losing. "Gotcha! Ha! I told you I'd win." Tyler threw his hands up in the air, grinning at Josh, who pouted. "What is that, twice in a row?" Josh stuck his tongue out.

"I won the first round, though. You should've seen yourself." Josh pulled a face, trying his best to copy Ty's reaction. 

"Mmhm. Anyway, I'm hungry. What's for dinner?" Josh pouted again. 

"I gotta cook? Why don't we do it together?" Josh paused. "...Did we unpack the kitchen yet?" Tyler shook his head, suddenly remembering how he dropped the boxes on the counter and left to attend his own room. 

"Nah. Crap, what did we even buy? We got a week's worth, right?" Josh nodded, and shrugged. 

"I think we have stuff to make spaghetti...?" He looked at Tyler. "Sound good?" Tyler nodded and made his way towards the kitchen. He ripped open a box and began digging around inside. 

"Found the big pot. Look for a strainer, a saucepan, a big spoon, plates and forks." Josh hummed as he began digging through boxes. 

"Got the strainer, spoon, and eating utensils. Did you find the saucepan?" Tyler sat back. 

"Nah, man. Did we even buy one?" He searched his memory- of the stores they visited in preparation. "You know, I don't think we did. Crap." The two sat in thought, shrugging at the other. "Let's just cook the noodles in the big pot, put them aside in the sink in the strainer, and do everything else in the same pot. Couldn't be too bad." 

"Sure, dude. Let's get going, then." Tyler got up and began digging around in the pantry- which was just a repurposed closet- and pulled out noodles and sauce. He made his way to the fridge, pulling out the ground beef and veggies. They wandered the kitchen silently, preparing the food. Josh suddenly looked at Tyler, a big smile taking up his face. "This is gonna be awesome." 

"The food?" Tyler turned his head. "Yeah, I'm sure it's gonna be gr-" Josh interrupted.

"Nah, man. Living with you. How long have we been talking about this? Freshman year of high school, right?" Tyler smiled, remembering. 

"Yeah. It's gonna be sick." He glanced around the kitchen. "Especially when we finally buy all the stuff that we need. I guarantee we don't have everything." Josh nodded in agreement, tending to the boiling noodles. "Are you ready to start college tomorrow?" Tyler shrugged. 

"Yeah, I think. What time is your first class?" 

"8:30 in the morning." Tyler cringed. 

"Mine's at 5. I have some evening classes- I'm kinda nervous." Josh clapped him on the shoulder. 

"I'm sure you'll be okay. At least you get to sleep in, right?" Tyler nodded. He sighed, thinking of how late he usually stays up. "You'll get your rest, finally," Josh remarked, and Tyler laughed. 

"I still get some, man." Josh just rolled his eyes.

"When you remember to sleep." He took the noodles off, draining them and putting them to the side. He looked at him seriously. "You're gonna need to for this stuff. You got by in high school, but just barely." He started cooking the meat, adding the veggies in and giving them a good stir. "This is gonna be a whole lot harder, even if you have chill teachers." Tyler sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I know, and I'm kind of terrified. Is that weird?" He dropped his arms to his sides, and caught Josh's eyes. "The stress of just high school was hard on me, so what is this gonna do to me? Am I gonna freak out in the middle of class?" Josh shook his head.

"I'm sure you'll be okay. If you have any issues with the subject material, just come to me. I'll try my best to help you. Same for the anxiety. Don't be afraid to ask for help, alright?" He turned to Tyler, ruffling his hair. Tyler just nodded, popping the lid off of the sauce as Josh began pouring the cooked down meat into the large pot. He added the sauce on top of it, and took the spoon from Josh and slowly stirred it as he turned up the heat a little. "You'll be fine," Josh supplied, watching him. "And if you aren't, that's okay too." Tyler smiled at him, appreciating his support.

"Thanks dude. Quit being mushy, and get the plates."

They sat in silence, quietly devouring their meals. "So," Josh started, putting down his fork. "How is this gonna work with my drums?" Tyler swallowed. "There's people living on two sides, do you think it'll disturb them?" 

"Maybe you can bring your practice pads in here, and play your drums somewhere else? I know the university has practice rooms- they might even have a spare drum set." Josh nodded, considering his options.

"You're lucky you play piano and ukulele. Those are either quiet, or have a headphone option." He sighed. "I'd kill for an electronic set right about now." Tyler smiled, and offered to pick up his plate. As he walked towards the sink, he glanced at Josh. "You'll be fine without it. We gotta worry about bills and college." Josh agreed, pouting. 

"...So wanna have another round of Mario Kart?" 

"You're on.


End file.
